This invention relates to a continuous business form assembly, and more particularly to a continuous, filled envelope assembly, or, in business forms terminology, a return envelope mailer.
As computer printing has facilitated computer billing and the like, the use of continuous business form assemblies has increased. For computer billing and the like, such assemblies have typically included multiple, overlying webs with marginal feed strips. The webs form series of overlying record sheets, originating envelopes, return envelopes, and message sheets. The return envelopes and message sheets are contained within the originating envelopes. The return envelopes and message sheets are removed from the originating envelopes by their first recipients, who separate the assembly along perforation lines as provided. The webs which form the return envelopes and message sheets include spaced, transversely extending openings between the feed strips, which allow the webs which form the originating envelopes to be joined, in part, through the openings and about the return envelopes and message sheets.
While these assemblies have proven successful, the need to provide the return envelopes with a flap or alternate sealing means has been a problem. The dimensions of the envelopes have been limited by this need. In my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,341, this problem was addressed and solved by providing an alternate continuous business form construction which not only increases the possible size of return envelopes for any given assembly but also simultaneously eliminates the paper waste of the openings cut through the one of the webs from which the flaps of the return envelopes are formed. Thus, in may prior patent, I disclose a continuous business form assembly of the type described, in which the flaps of the return envelopes are formed in one web of the material from which the web openings in that web are cut, rather than being formed of the material of the sheets which remain after the openings are cut. The openings of the one web are cut, and the flaps of the return envelopes are formed simultaneously, by the making of two spaced, short, longitudinal cuts and a single, long, transverse cut between the two longitudinal cuts. These cuts simultaneously define three edges of the openings in the web being cut, and three edges of the flaps. The flaps and openings are then completed by a folding of the flaps back against the web along a transverse fold or perforation line.